Shannon James Doble: Man told mother ‘burn bitch’ before setting her on fire

WARNING: This story contains disturbing content.

A man who told his mother “you’re going to burn bitch” before murdering her by dousing her in petrol and lighting her on fire has been jailed for at least 16 years and 11 months.

Shannon James Doble, 44, stood in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Wednesday as he was sentenced for the brutal and horrific murder of his 65-year-old mother Nerol Doble which was sparked by an argument over a jerrycan.

Doble set his mother’s house at Bribbaree, northwest of Young, on fire in January 2024 before bludgeoning her with the jerrycan full of petrol.

“(Doble) then walked outside to his mother and said to her ‘you’re going to burn bitch’. He then lit her on fire,” Justice Julia Lonergan told the court on Wednesday,

Doble last year pleaded guilty to her murder.

At the time of the attack, he was living on his mother’s property in a modified bus and, in the lead up, had argued with her about having lost a chuck key to his drill.

The court was told that a teenage girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, attempted to intervene and stop the attack before she was burned by the flames.

Justice Lonergan said the girl made “valiant attempts” to douse the flames with water, but Doble only threw more petrol on his mother.

“She is a hero,” Justice Lonergan said of the girl, commending her bravery, and saying she provided “a shield and love and comfort” to Ms Doble in the face of “terrifying events”.

The court was told the incident was sparked by an argument over a jerrycan because Ms Noble wanted to mow the grass.

Doble drove off in his ute but was later arrested while Ms Noble was flown to hospital, where she later died because of her burns and injuries.

When he was interviewed by police, Doble said his mother was kicking him off the property and reneging on their deal to let him stay there.

He claimed he had blacked out and did not remember lighting the house or his mother on fire.

When told his mother was likely going to die, he told police: “Oh, that’s bad.”

The court was told he further explained to detectives: “If she left me alone, if she’d stopped pushing me … and making me do this s--t, it wouldn’t have happened. All she had to do was just leave me alone.”

Justice Lonergan described it as a “truly horrible crime” and said Doble had never shown “any sign of remorse”.

She noted he had been diagnosed with cannabis use disorder, personality disorder and complex post traumatic stress disorder.

“Nerol Doble was a much-loved partner, mother and grandmother,” Justice Lonergan said in her sentencing remarks on Wednesday afternoon.

“She was brutally and horrifically murdered by the offender, one of her own sons, in an appalling and callous demonstration of uncontrolled anger and resentment.”

Doble was sentenced to 22 years and nine months in prison.

He will first be eligible for release in December, 2040 after serving a 16 year, 11 month non parole period.